Review: The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson

Overview:

The hilarious and loving sequel to a hilarious and loving classic of travel writing: Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson's valentine to his adopted country of England

In 1995 Bill Bryson got into his car and took a weeks-long farewell motoring trip about England before moving his family back to the United States. The book about that trip, Notes from a Small Island, is uproarious and endlessly endearing, one of the most acute and affectionate portrayals of England in all its glorious eccentricity ever written. Two decades later, he set out again to rediscover that country, and the result is The Road to Little Dribbling. Nothing is funnier than Bill Bryson on the road—prepare for the total joy and multiple episodes of unseemly laughter.

Review:

Once again Bill Bryson proves himself as one of my favorite writers. His descriptions of quaint and not-so-quaint towns throughout Britain paints such vivid pictures. Plus, who wouldn't love Bryson's sense of humor? From concerns about society's march toward total stupidity to his personal struggles at McDonald's, the jokes are clever and relatable. But perhaps where Bryson shines most is in describing the history of each location, his experience, and how time has treated the place. His thoughts on the British rail system are just one example of Bryson's intelligence.

The Road to Little Dribbling is engaging and charming, much like I imagine Bryson to be. Part history lesson, part personal adventure, this book is definitely a love letter to Bryson's adopted land.

Review: Bradstreet Gate by Robin Kirman

Overview:

 

Georgia, Charlie and Alice each arrive at Harvard with hopeful visions of what the future will hold. But when, just before graduation, a classmate is found murdered on campus, they find themselves facing a cruel and unanticipated new reality. Moreover, a charismatic professor who has loomed large in their lives is suspected of the crime. Though his guilt or innocence remains uncertain, the unsettling questions raised by the case force the three friends to take a deeper look at their tangled relationship. Their bond has been defined by the secrets they’ve kept from one another—Charlie’s love and Alice’s envy, Georgia’s mysterious affair—and over the course of the next decade, as they grapple with the challenges of adulthood and witness the unraveling of a teacher's once-charmed life, they must reckon with their own deceits and shortcomings, each desperately in search of answers and the chance to be forgiven.

A relentless, incisive, and keenly intelligent novel about promise, disappointment, and the often tenuous bonds of friendship, Bradstreet Gate is the auspicious debut of a tremendously talented new writer.

 

Review:

 

This book was a little perplexing for me. I found myself really engrossed in the characters, and what I assumed would be a clear solution to the books mystery: what happened to Julie Patel? Of course, reading the book's description, it's really about the intertwined lives of three students and a professor at Harvard; but the death of another student is the backstory that keeps alluding to more. Without a clear resolution to this secondary story, it feels like the book was somehow cut off. I found myself wanting more from each character. It began questioning their motives and who they really were after spending so many pages with them.  I also felt that the jump between college and ten years later was an interesting plot device not fully realized. Somehow the characters lost their depth as they got older.

Bradford Gate was very well written, and I enjoyed the book, I just felt it was missing a few elements to make it an excellent book. I was looking for a big reveal, and the book ended quite quietly.

 

* I received an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A Faraway Smell of Lemon by Rachel Joyce

Overview:

 

It is Christmas Eve. Binny has four hours to make Christmas happen and she couldn't feel less like wishing glad tidings of good will to all men - least of all to Oliver. It is raining, her house is falling apart, the streets are jammed with people and it is all Oliver's fault. Darting into a shop to escape a conversation, Binny finds herself in the sort of place she would never normally visit. But in amongst the shelves is a surprising source of peace.

 

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Review:

 

Joyce has written a sweet and thoughtful short story about making peace with the past. Christmas Eve finds Binny sad, angry and resolved to forego the holiday season altogether. In an effort to avoid a conversation, she ducts into a fancy cleaning shop. Her chance encounter with the young shop girl serves as a turning point for Binny- offering solace and hope.

 

Review: Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson

Overview:

 

In six masterly stories, Johnson delves deep into love and loss, natural disasters, the influence of technology, and how the political shapes the personal. “George Orwell Was a Friend of Mine” follows a former warden of a Stasi prison in East Germany who vehemently denies his past, even as pieces of it are delivered in packages to his door. “Nirvana,” which won the prestigious Sunday Times short story prize, portrays a programmer whose wife has a rare disease finding solace in a digital simulacrum of the president of the United States. In “Hurricanes Anonymous”—first included in the Best American Short Stories anthology—a young man searches for the mother of his son in a Louisiana devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And in the unforgettable title story, Johnson returns to his signature subject, North Korea, depicting two defectors from Pyongyang who are trying to adapt to their new lives in Seoul, while one cannot forget the woman he left behind.

Unnerving, riveting, and written with a timeless quality, these stories confirm Johnson as one of America's greatest writers and an indispensable guide to our new century.

 

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Review:

 

Fortune Smiles is not at all the short story collection I was expecting. With topics ranging from cancer to the prisons of East Germany,  it's certainly not a lighthearted read. While the topics were sometimes uncomfortable, at least they elicited a response. I found the short story Fortune Smiles, where this collection gets its name, to be the strongest. Dark Meadow was a bit too disturbing, and Nirvana fell a bit flat. Overall, I didn't feel the characters were developed in any way that garnered sympathy or understanding. I wasn't emotionally invested in any of them.

Review: How to Write a Novel by Melanie Sumner

Overview:

In the spirit of Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project comes a hilarious and heartfelt story of an aspiring author trying to rescue her single-mother family by writing the next Great American Novel.

 

Aristotle "Aris" Thibodeau is 12.5 years old and destined for glory. Unfortunately, after her father's death, she finds herself plopped down in Kanuga, Georgia, where she has to manage her mother Diane's floundering love life and dubious commitment to her job as an English professor. Not to mention, co-parenting a little brother who hogs all the therapy money.

Luckily, Aris has a plan. Following the advice laid out Write a Novel in Thirty Days! she sets out to pen a bestseller using her charmingly dysfunctional family as material. If the Mom-character, Diane, would ditch online dating and accept that the perfect man is clearly the handyman/nanny-character, Penn MacGuffin, Aris would have the essential romance for her plot (and a father in her real life). But when a random accident uncovers a dark part of Thibodeau family history, Aris is forced to confront the fact that sometimes in life—as in great literature—things might not work out exactly as planned.

 

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Review:

 

How to Write a Novel chronicles family life as experience (and told) by 12.5 year Aristotle (Aris). Aris, her younger brother Max, and mom Diane, are still working through life after the loss of family patriarch, Joe.  Aris is precocious, funny, and smart.  When she's not co-parenting her little brother, she's hard at work trying to find a suitable match for Diane.

I found this coming of age story at turns heart breaking, hopeful, and funny. This is the perfect book for fans of Marie Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette. I highly recommend How to Write a Novel and can't wait for Melanie Sumner's next work.

Review: At Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

Overview:

In this new novel from the author of Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen again demonstrates her talent for creating spellbinding period pieces. At the Water's Edge is a gripping and poignant love story about a privileged young woman's personal awakening as she experiences the devastations of World War II in a Scottish Highlands village.

Madeline Hyde, a young socialite from Philadelphia, reluctantly follows her husband and their best friend to the tiny village of Drumnadrochit in search of a mythical monster—at the same time that a very real monster, Hitler, wages war against the Allied Forces. What Maddie discovers—about the larger world and about herself—through the unlikely friendships she develops with the villagers, opens her eyes not only to the dark forces that exist around her but to the beauty and surprising possibilities.

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Review:

 

Sara Gruen has again produced a historical fiction novel that is engaging and atmospheric. When three young twenty-somethings leave 1940s Philadelphia in the midst of World War II, in search of the mythical Lochness Monster, they find far more than they bargained for. Fans of Kate Morton or Kate Atkinson,  will enjoy At the Water's Edge.

Review: No Baggage by Clara Bensen

Overview:

 

No Baggage is a memoir that will resonate with adventurers and homebodies alike—it’s at once a romance, a travelogue, and a bright modern take on the age-old questions: how do you find the courage to explore beyond your comfort zone? And can you love someone without the need for commitment, or any expectations for the future?

When Clara Bensen arranged to meet Jeff Wilson on the steps of the Texas State Capitol, after just a few email exchanges on OKCupid, it felt like something big was going to happen. Clara, a sensitive and reclusive personality, is immediately drawn to Jeff’s freewheeling, push-the-envelope nature. Within a few days of knowing one another, they embark on a 21-day travel adventure—from Istanbul to London, with zero luggage, zero reservations, and zero plans. They want to test a simple question: what happens when you welcome the unknown instead of attempting to control it?

Donning a single green dress and a small purse with her toothbrush and credit card, Clara travels through eight countries in three weeks. Along the way, Clara ruminates on the challenges of traveling unencumbered, while realizing when it comes to falling in love, you can never really leave your baggage behind.

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Review:

 

The book chronicles a three-week vacation- where Bensen and maybe-boyfriend Jeff bring nothing but the clothes on their backs. Interspersed are memories of Bensen's nervous-breakdown and how she met Jeff.

 

I found the book to be disjointed. The trip really took backseat to relationship worries that painted Jeff as almost entirely unlikable, and Bensen slightly unbalanced. There was also quite a bit of time spent exploring Bensen's "existential crisis,' which read more like a self-indulgent fissy fit. Rather than garnering sympathy, it all felt very forced and melodramatic. I would have like to learn more about Bensen's travel experiences, and how her grand no baggage experiment played out.

However, all that criticism aside, Bensen is clearly an intelligent and skilled writer. Her research into the scientific and mathematical implications of coincidence or Greek philosophers is stellar. Her thoughts on the nature of being are quite interesting as well.

 

I understand that Bensen and Jeff continue to travel sans baggage. I'll be interested to see how future writing manifests itself.

 

*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami

Overview:

The debut short novels--nearly thirty years out of print-- by the internationally acclaimed writer, newly retranslated and in one English-language volume for the first time, with a new introduction by the author.

These first major works of fiction by Haruki Murakami center on two young men--an unnamed narrator and his friend and former roommate, the Rat. Powerful, at times surreal, stories of loneliness, obsession, and eroticism, these novellas bear all the hallmarks of Murakami's later books, giving us a fascinating insight into a great writer's beginnings, and are remarkable works of fiction in their own right. Here too is an exclusive essay by Murakami in which he explores and explains his decision to become a writer. Prequels to the much-beloved classics A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance, these early works are essential reading for Murakami completists and contemporary fiction lovers alike.

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Review:

Haruki Murakami is one of my all-time favorite authors, and his first works Wind/Pinball do not disappoint. It was so interesting to read these early novels knowing the evolution of Murakami's work. With other authors, you can sense when they have hit their stride or passed their peak. Murakami's writing is consistently excellent. His turns of phrase exceptional from his very first novels.

If you've read other Murakami novels- which obviously I recommend- Wind/Pinball will give you a sense of nostalgia. Having just finished these novels, I'd love to re-read Murakami's full collection. I love how much life and atmosphere goes into each novel. Murakami creates such a sense of time and place; it's so tangible. When he describes a 'very good coffee,' my mind immediately conjures the smell and taste of the best coffee I've ever had. If he mentions a record, I recall my introduction to those songs. Even when the limits of reality begin to stretch, I can visualize and relate to the scene. There is a subtlety in Murakami's writing that allows every possibility to exist as reality. 

Review: The Children's Home by Charles Lambert

Overview:

 

For fans of Shirley Jackson, Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl, and Edward Gorey, a beguiling and disarming debut novel from an award-winning British author about a mysterious group of children who appear to a disfigured recluse and his country doctor—and the startling revelations their behavior evokes.

In a sprawling estate, willfully secluded, lives Morgan Fletcher, the disfigured heir to a fortune of mysterious origins. Morgan spends his days in quiet study, avoiding his reflection in mirrors and the lake at the end of his garden. One day, two children, Moira and David, appear. Morgan takes them in, giving them free reign of the mansion he shares with his housekeeper Engel. Then more children begin to show up.

Dr. Crane, the town physician and Morgan’s lone tether to the outside world, is as taken with the children as Morgan, and begins to spend more time in Morgan’s library. But the children behave strangely. They show a prescient understanding of Morgan’s past, and their bizarre discoveries in the mansion attics grow increasingly disturbing. Every day the children seem to disappear into the hidden rooms of the estate, and perhaps, into the hidden corners of Morgan’s mind.

The Children’s Home is a genre-defying, utterly bewitching masterwork, an inversion of modern fairy tales like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Golden Compass, in which children visit faraway lands to accomplish elusive tasks. Lambert writes from the perspective of the visited, weaving elements of psychological suspense, Jamesian stream of consciousness, and neo-gothic horror, to reveal the inescapable effects of abandonment, isolation, and the grotesque—as well as the glimmers of goodness—buried deep within the soul.

 

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Review:

 

Charles Lambert has written a fascinating and engaging  novel. The Children's Home is mystery, history and magical realism rolled into one.  I enjoyed this book a great deal- a fast read. I am still working out all the philosophical and psychological implications in this book. Told through the scope of magical realism, The Children's Home dark underbelly reveals the less flattering side of human nature. I would highly recommend this book for fans of John Connolly and Neil Gaiman.

 

*I received an advanced reader copier in exchange for an honest review.

Review: It Always Rains on Sundays by Roger Johnson

Overview:

Cyn. Cyn, where have you bin?

I’ve been trying to call you all day.

Expect you’re in bed with Kevin the Red,

Where the skies are not cloudy all day.

 

Life is happy for 40-year-old poetry buff and senior librarian Colin Quirke, happily married to Cynthia for thirteen years with two great kids. Not so for Cynthia. Cyn is bored.

 

This all changes when a new, younger couple moves in next door. Eddie and ditsy blonde Avril’s motto is ‘Life is for living!’. Wild parties with loud music are soon followed by girls’ nights out, and life will never be the same on the De Lacey Street cul-de-sac.

 

In the meantime, Eddie is killed in a tragic micro-light plane accident. Cyn consoles Avril by taking her to Miami. Next thing you know, she’s met up with some red-haired American guy called Kevin Ranker (aka 'the home-wrecker').

 

Is divorce on the cards for Cyn and Colin? Consolations, at least. Still, there’s always the lovely Alison at the Poetry Society. Or the new assistant librarian at work, she could be interesting…

 

It Always Rains on Sundays is a laugh-out-loud new novel from BBC prize-winner Roger Johnson. Full of intelligent humour, it is an entertaining read for fans of funny and original fiction.

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Review:

I don't really know what to make of the description I read, the publisher's quotes, and what I actually read. Somehow I cannot reconcile all the information. Narrator Colin Quirke is an utterly unlikeable, out-of-the-loop loser. He lacked emotional depth and apparently any sense of reality. If the novel was meant to be funny, I've certainly missed the humor. The description also paints the picture of a more multi-dimensional story. I wasn't picking up on any of that either. The story just seemed to plod along with no action, climax, or resolution. I had high hopes for It Always Rains on Sundays, so I'm disappointed.

*I received an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A Beginner's Guide to Paradise by Alex Sheshunoff

Overview:

So You Too Can:

- Move to a South Pacific Island
- Wear a Loincloth
- Read a Hundred Books
- Diaper a Baby Monkey
- Build a Bungalow

And Maybe, Just Maybe, Fall in Love! *

* Individual results may vary.

The true story of how a quarter-life crisis led to adventure, freedom, and love on a tiny island in the Pacific.From the author of a lot of emails and several Facebook posts comes A Beginner's Guide to Paradise, a laugh-out-loud, true story that will answer your most pressing escape-from-it-all questions, including:

1. How much, per pound, should you expect to pay a priest to fly you to the outer islands of Yap?
2. Classic slumber party stumper: If you could have just one movie on a remote Pacific island, what would it definitely not be?
3. How do you blend fruity drinks without a blender?
4. Is a free, one-hour class from Home Depot on “Flowerbox Construction” sufficient training to build a house?

From Robinson Crusoe to Survivor, Gilligan's Island to The Beach, people have fantasized about living on a remote tropical island. But when facing a quarter-life crisis, plucky desk slave Alex Sheshunoff actually did it.

While out in Paradise, he learned a lot. About how to make big choices and big changes. About the less-than-idyllic parts of paradise. About tying a loincloth without exposing the tender bits. Now, Alex shares his incredible story and pretty-hard-won wisdom in a book that will surprise you, make you laugh, take you to such unforgettable islands as Yap and Pig, and perhaps inspire your own move to an island with only two letters in its name.

Answers: 1) $1.14 2) Gas Attack Training Made Simple 3) Crimp a fork in half and insert middle into power drill 4) No.

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Review:

Having orchestrated my own move to a foreign country, I really enjoy reading about others' experiences. A Beginner's Guide to Paradise follows Alex Sheshunoff's adventure after he leaves his life in New York City for life on a remote Pacific island. I found the story sincere and real, There were plenty of opportunities to over-sell hilarious mishaps or wax poetic about life in paradise. But Sheshunoff doesn't do that. He presents his experience: the funny, the serious, the daring, and the... cheesy?? There were moments when I felt the story dragged a bit. There were quite a number of experiences I wish were explored more fully.

 

All that being said, I thought it was a charming and delightful read, and definitely recommend this book.

 

* I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell

Overview:

 

For fans of Liane Moriarty and Jojo Moyes comes a riveting family drama with a dark mystery at its core, from the internationally bestselling author of The House We Grew Up In.

In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman steps into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide?

At the center of this puzzle is Adrian Wolfe, a successful architect and grief-stricken widower, who, a year after his third wife’s death, begins to investigate the cause. As Adrian looks back on their brief but seemingly happy marriage, disturbing secrets begin to surface. The divorces from his two previous wives had been amicable, or so it seemed; his children, all five of them, were resilient as ever, or so he thought. But something, or someone, must have pushed Maya over the edge…

With psychological nuance that gets into the heart of its characters, The Third Wife is a gripping story about a man seeking the truth behind his seemingly perfect marriage and the broken pieces left behind.

 

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Review:

I am really conflicted about this book. For most of the book, I was convinced it was a simply- and perhaps poorly- executive chick-lit novel. Then I actually got into the suspense of the Third Wife's (Maya) death. I expected a great mystery revealed. Ultimately, I was disappointed by the rather predictable reveal, and offended by the overall disregard for Maya's life, and death.  Maya was the only character with any real depth or complexity. The others were self-involved and lacking any real emotion range.

All that being said, the novel did elicit a response for me (anger, disappoint, frustration with the characters), and to me that is the mark of a good writer. Not every character is meant to be likable, relatable- worth forgiveness or redemption.

Review: The Boy Who Granted Dreams by Luca Di Fulvio

Overview:

New York, 1909: Fifteen-year-old Cetta arrives on a freighter with nothing but her infant son Natale: strikingly blond, dark-eyed, and precocious. They've fled the furthest reaches of southern Italy with the dream of a better life in America.
But even in the "Land of the Free," the merciless laws of gangs rule the miserable, poverty-stricken, and crime-filled Lower East Side. Only those with enough strength and conviction survive. As young Natale grows up in the Roaring Twenties, he takes a page from his crippled mother's book and finds he possesses a certain charisma that enables him to charm the dangerous people around him ...
Weaving Natale's unusual life and quest for his one true love against the gritty backdrop of New York's underbelly, Di Fulvio proves yet again that he is a master storyteller as he constructs enticing characters ravaged by circumstance, driven by dreams, and awakened by destiny.

Haunting and luminous, this masterfully written blend of romance, crime, and historical fiction will thrill lovers of turn-of-the-century dramas like "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Gangs of New York."

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Review:

 

The Boy Who Granted Dreams is dazzling. A sweeping novel from the shores of Italy to the gritty streets of the Lower East Side; the bright lights of Broadway to the  Hollywood Hills, readers follow a blonde haired, blue eyed, Italian boy named Christmas. . Di Fulvio takes us through 1920s New York City, Detroit, and the early days of Hollywood. Told from three points of view, this is a story about the American Dream, and the lives built and destroy by that dream. My only criticism would be that the book seemed a bit long in parts. Still, I highly recommend this novel.

Review: The Color of Our Sky by Amita Trasi

Overview:

 

India, 1986: Mukta, a ten-year-old girl from the lower caste Yellamma cult of temple prostitutes has come of age to fulfill her destiny of becoming a temple prostitute. In an attempt to escape this legacy that binds her, Mukta is transported to a foster family in Bombay. There she discovers a friend in the high spirited eight-year-old Tara, the tomboyish daughter of the family, who helps her recover from the wounds of her past. Tara introduces Mukta to a different world—ice cream and sweets, poems and stories, and a friendship the likes of which she has never experienced before. In 1993, Mukta is kidnapped from Tara’s room.

Eleven years later, Tara who blames herself for what happened, embarks on an emotional journey to search for the kidnapped Mukta only to uncover long buried secrets in her own family.

Moving from a remote village in India to the bustling metropolis of Bombay, to Los Angeles and back again, amidst the brutal world of human trafficking, this is a heartbreaking and beautiful portrait of an unlikely friendship—a story of love, betrayal, and redemption—which ultimately withstands the true test of time.

 

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Review:

 

I can't help but compare this novel to The Kite Runner. In some ways it read very much The Kite Runner meets Slum Dog Millionaire. I could not completely escape the parallels of The Kite Runner, however after several characters the story began to stand on its own. Particularly because it sheds light on human trafficking in India. For that reason alone I would recommend this novel. While The Color of Our Sky is a work of fiction, it is a composite of real experiences. I look forward to Trasi's next novel.

Review: This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison

Overview:

 

With her husband Bernard two years in the grave, seventy-nine-year-old Harriet Chance sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise only to discover that she's been living the past sixty years of her life under entirely false pretenses. There, amid the buffets and lounge singers, between the imagined appearance of her late husband and the very real arrival of her estranged daughter, Harriet is forced to take a long look back, confronting the truth about pivotal events that changed the course of her life.

Jonathan Evison has crafted a bighearted novel with an endearing heroine at its center. Through Harriet, he paints a bittersweet portrait of a postmodern everywoman with great warmth, humanity, and humor. Part dysfunctional love story, part poignant exploration of the mother/daughter relationship, nothing is what it seems in this tale of acceptance, reexamination, forgiveness, and, ultimately, healing. It is sure to appeal to admirers of Evison's previous work, as well as fans of such writers as Meg Wolitzer, Junot Diaz, and Karen Joy Fowler.

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Review:

 

Jonathan Evison has created a real, and all too human, portrait of a life in This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance. As I hopped around through Harriet's life, I could relate to all the hopes, dreams, heartache and disappointments. Harriet was lovable, aggravating, funny, and mean. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her, but I suppose that's what life is... all the ups and downs along the way. Nothing is perfect, yet that's what makes life interesting.

It wasn't until the last paragraphs that I realize how philosophical this book was, or that the story was drawing to a close. I would have liked to spend a bit more time with Harriet.

I would highly recommend this book.

Review: Together Apart by Natalie Martin

Overview:

 

When Adam proposes to Sarah, the last thing he expects is to be single and heartbroken less than forty-eight hours later. But Sarah has a secret, and she's willing to sacrifice everything to keep it.

Going through a break-up is hard enough but having to live together afterwards is even worse, especially when it's a break-up neither person wants. For Adam, only ways to deal with it are drinking and partying. For Sarah, it’s keeping her distance and her secrets.

Against a backdrop of lies, betrayals and passion, the delicate threads holding Sarah's secret begin to unravel when her past and present collide.

Romantic, intense and heartbreaking, Together Apart explores what it really means to love and be loved.

 

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Review:

 

Told from alternating his and her perspectives, Together Apart is an interesting tale about a couple forced to share an apartment, after their sudden break-up. I found the premise to be interesting, but execution a bit lacking. Much of the interactions were underdeveloped, and over dramatized. There were several characters who's stories seemed interesting, but were left undeveloped.

Review: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Overview:

 

From the author of the internationally bestselling A Man Called Ove, a charming, warmhearted novel about a young girl whose grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters, sending her on a journey that brings to life the world of her grandmother’s fairy tales.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s internationally bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and an ode to one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

 

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Review:

 

I absolutely loved this book, and cannot wait to read Backman's debut novel. Backman is a master story teller, weaving fairy tales and real life to create the story of one building's family.  Elsa's grandmother is crazy, and brilliant. Granny's actions are at times as outlandish as the stories she tells young Elsa. When Granny dies, Elsa's sent on a treasure hunt that has her discovering who her neighbors are, and who Granny was before she was a grandmother. A story about how families are made. I highly recommend My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, and can't wait to read Backman's other work.

* I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Overview:

 

From the author of the internationally bestselling A Man Called Ove, a charming, warmhearted novel about a young girl whose grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters, sending her on a journey that brings to life the world of her grandmother’s fairy tales.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s internationally bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and an ode to one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

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Review:

 

I absolutely loved this book, and cannot wait to read Backman's debut novel. Backman is a master story teller, weaving fairy tales and real life to create the story of one building's family.  Elsa's grandmother is crazy, and brilliant. Granny's actions are at times as outlandish as the stories she tells young Elsa. When Granny dies, Elsa's sent on a treasure hunt that has her discovering who her neighbors are, and who Granny was before she was a grandmother. A story about how families are made. I highly recommend My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

 

Review: Ink by Hari Kunzru

Overview:

A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Original Selection

The Wall Street businessman is about to become very wealthy—serious money, you understand—but while flying from New York to Silicon Valley to officially sell his startup, he has a very damaging, very disturbing, possibly destiny-altering dream.

In this new story from Hari Kunzru, the explosive, wildly inventive, stunningly ambitious author of the acclaimed novel Gods Without Men, a titan of industry mustn't forget that he was a boy once; and an English public school past can continue to haunt far after graduation. “Ink” is a cautionary tale rebooted for the startup age.
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Review:

This short story was surprisingly gripping. As the narrator introduced his life to the reader, I could not image where the story was heading. Then suddenly the memory of a bullied childhood classmate takes hold in the narrator's mind. Along with his personal act of cruelty towards Babcock. In light of all the bullying discussions of late, this was an interesting interpretation. I kept trying to project ahead, believing the plot more predictable than it is. I was wrong on all counts.

Overview:

 

In Life After Life Ursula Todd lived through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. In A God in Ruins, Atkinson turns her focus on Ursula’s beloved younger brother Teddy – would-be poet, RAF bomber pilot, husband and father – as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century. For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge will be to face living in a future he never expected to have.  

 

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Review:

 

Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors, and with A God in Ruins she continues to dazzle. This is truly a beautiful novel about life's possibilities, how one life impacts another, and the effects of war on many lives. It may be a companion piece to Life After Life, but A God in Ruins  certainly stands on its own. While the ending was surprising, it unfolded so gracefully it felt completely natural. I could continue gushing, but fear I'd give too much away, while not doing this extraordinary work justice. Atkinson just keeps getting better.